And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea

Laura lifted her head at the sound of the heavy door being pushed open and watched as Robbie stepped over the threshold and shivered. It was slight and barely detectable, but it was most definitely there. The first few times she'd thought she imagined it and for a while she'd given virtually no thought at all; Morse's dislike of the lab always providing a much richer vein of material. But later, she'd realised just how consistent Robbie's reaction was and how utterly sub-conscious the tiny twitch of the shoulder was. She was fairly certain no one else had even noticed, but the more she looked, the more she saw it, and it had become oddly reassuring.

Robert Lewis was like a lot of coppers, seemingly immune to blood and gore. He'd flinch with disgust if she opted for a particularly detailed explanation which she occasionally did just for the fun of the reaction it got, but even then he tended to take it all in his stride. Unless he knew the victim of course, but that was to be expected. No, Robert Lewis was as professional as they come and gave little away, except in that split second when he crossed from the warmth of the corridor into the chilled air of the mortuary. But it wasn't the cold that was the cause, but compassion. The horrific ways in which man decided to despatch it's fellow man was one thing; the harsh reality of a body laid out without ceremony and stripped of its humanity was quite another.

"Doctor," he offered in greeting, his eyes briefly glancing at the young girl resting on the slab, a green sheet drawn up to under her chin.

"Inspector," Laura returned, eyes unblinking as she watched him carefully, his face not letting on to whatever thoughts she imagined were consuming him.

She'd noticed a shift between them in the last few days. She'd been in two minds whether to invite him to her birthday party and had been pleasantly surprised when he'd not only accepted but actually shown up. They'd socialised before but this was different. It wasn't a work thing; it was personal and Robbie didn't always do that. But somehow they had taken a step away from being friendly and more firmly towards friendship. There'd been similar moments since he'd been back in Oxford but a few weeks or months without a case to bring them together would see them reverting too easily back to colleagues. This time it felt different. The memory of the kiss she'd boldly placed on his cheek was one of the few that had managed to survive the hangover of the next day.

"Anything to know?" Robbie asked, his question snapping her from her thoughts.

"Always," she replied smartly, doing little to hide her smirk, "But if you mean something that's going to help, then probably not."

She proceeded to outline what the post-mortem had found; the blow to the back of the head caused by a heavy, blunt object, lungs full of water.

"But she was dead when she went in the river?"

"Yes," she confirmed, "In all probability it could have gone either way, but the water was definitely ingested post-mortem."

Robbie nodded, his face creased with unspoken questions, some of which he would ask, but many he probably wouldn't. She usually pushed him to get on with it. After all, it wasn't as if she was awash with time to wait for every policeman to figure out what they wanted to know. But something about Nell Buckley had gotten under his skin and so instead she busied herself with the mundane task of cross-referencing the figures in her report with those sent over from the testing lab. She knew already they were correct, but if he needed a minute then a minute she'd let him have. It would pass and he'd be the dogged detective once more. The scratch of her pencil against the sheet on her clipboard appeared loud against the ensuing silence, interrupted only by occasional rumble of a metal trolley being wheeled along the corridor or the soft thud of a freezer door in the adjacent room.

"Juries out on her boyfriend," he volunteered at last, "Not that they were probably up to much."

"No sign of anything of that kind," she began, but something about the look he gave her caused her to change tact.

"You know, Robbie, she probably didn't see the attack coming. It would have been quick."

He nodded at that, breathing out heavily before turning and moving away. He got as far as the door before he stopped and looked back.

"It was good night, you know, your party," he offered, a small grin lightening his otherwise serious expression.

"So good you left early," she teased.

"Aye, well, I appreciated the invite. Although..." he tailed off.

"Although?" she prompted.

"Well, me gift," he shrugged resignedly, "It was a bit rubbish. I should have got you something better. You know, for a special birthday."

Laura shook her head. "Having you there was enough," pausing briefly before adding, "And Hathaway, of course."

Robbie rolled his eyes, but the wry chuckle she couldn't help but offer in reply, brought a slightly smile to his lips. She saw for a split second how the worry lines lifted, how the years could be rolled back. She held his gaze, longing to know what thoughts were churning through his mind. But then it was over, the shared moment gone. He gestured his goodbye, that characteristic wave of his that he seemed to use whenever he was ready to move on but without having the words, and before she could think of anything that would make him stay he was gone.

Laura watched as the door closed on itself, the familiar sound of it brushing against the other as it came slowly to a stop, the hushed quiet of the dead returning. She could feel her heart beating a little quicker but pushed aside the increasingly nagging thoughts as to why this might be. Instead, she turned back to the body. She looked down at the girls' face, with her hair brushed back tidily and youthful skin already greying. She sighed. It was a waste, she thought, sighing as she pulled the sheet to cover her completely, but then it always was.

And what about Robbie? Was that a waste, this undefined, almost uneasy warmth that seemed to be growing between them? Maybe. She felt her teeth bite at her lower lip as she let a few tentative thoughts fill her mind, but then she shook them away. No, nothing had changed. After all, he'd done a bunk from the party, and that was Robbie all over. One step forward, two hurried steps back, and she didn't need that. No, she resolved, she didn't need that at all.